Can I login to multiple terminals with the same user safely on Linux?

By terminals I mean the ones you can switch to using Ctrl+Alt+F1-F6.

I know I'm able to login multiple times but does this have any side-effects?

Solution 1:

*NIX is by design a multi-user system, so there is not going to be an issue by logging in multiple times on available consoles. This was "the way" to be productive before the advent of mulitplexing terminal programs such as screen. I still know individuals who run *NIX workstations with no X-windows, preferring to use multiple consoles, and usually screen, to perform their work.

The only thing to be aware of is that by default the consoles are not password protected once you log in. Anybody could walk up and begin executing commands as your logged in user.

Solution 2:

There IS one side effect, when you run an application which can have concurrent access on the same file. One example is the .bash_history file, which will be overwritten when bash exits.